How to Run a Customer Statement in QuickBooks Desktop

Sending a customer statement in QuickBooks Desktop is one of the most effective ways to remind clients of their outstanding balances and provide a complete history of their accounts. Unlike a single invoice, a statement gives your customer the full picture—what they’ve been billed for, what they’ve paid, and what they still owe. This guide will walk you through creating individual statements, batch-generating statements for multiple customers, and customizing their appearance for a professional look.

What is a Customer Statement?

Think of a customer statement as a summary communication tool. It's a formal document that lists all the transactions for a specific customer over a given period. This typically includes:

• Invoices issued to the customer
• Payments received from the customer
• Credit memos issued
• Refunds given
• Any other credits or charges applied to their account

The primary purpose of a statement is to provide clarity and gently nudge B2B customers with unpaid balances. It’s a standard piece of a healthy accounts receivable collections process. For your customer, it serves as a helpful record of all activity and confirms what they owe, reducing the chance of disputes or "lost invoice" claims.

When Should You Send a Customer Statement?

While you can generate a statement anytime, there are common business situations where they are particularly useful.

• Monthly A/R Management: Many businesses send statements at the end of each month as a standard procedure. This keeps clients informed of their account status and encourages timely payments, especially for those with multiple open invoices.
• Targeted Collections: When an account becomes past due, a statement is often more effective than resending a single invoice. It clearly shows the aging of all unpaid invoices, adding context and urgency to the payment request.
• Responding to Customer Inquiries: If a customer calls and asks, "How much do I owe you?" or requests a summary of their activity for their own accounting, a statement provides an immediate and comprehensive answer.
• Project Summaries: For companies that work on long-term projects with multiple billing cycles, a statement can act as a running tally, showing the client the total amount invoiced and paid to date.

Understanding the Three Types of Statements in QuickBooks

QuickBooks Desktop offers three distinct types of statements, each serving a different purpose. Choosing the right one guarantees your message to the customer is clear and relevant.

• Balance Forward Statement: This is the most common type. It starts with the balance owed at the beginning of the statement period, lists all new invoices, payments, and credits made during that period, and finishes with the new total balance due. This format is great for recurring clients with a high volume of transactions, as it provides a concise summary without listing every historical transaction.
• Open Item Statement: This statement format exclusively lists all unpaid (open) transactions up to the statement date, regardless of when they were created. It’s the perfect tool for collections because it ignores paid invoices and focuses a customer's attention solely on what is still outstanding. If you are chasing specific overdue bills, this is the format you should use.
• Transaction Statement: The most detailed option, this statement shows every single transaction within the selected date range, including both paid and unpaid invoices. Use this when a customer requests a complete history for their records review, tax purposes, or to investigate a discrepancy. It acts as a full ledger of their account activity for that specific period.

Step-by-Step Guide: Creating a Statement for a Single Customer

When you need to send a statement to one specific customer, you can do so directly from their profile in the Customer Center. This is the fastest method for individual requests or follow-ups.

Step 1: Navigate to the Customer Center

From the QuickBooks Desktop home screen, go to the top menu bar and click on Customers, then select Customer Center from the dropdown menu.

Step 2: Select the Customer

In the list on the left-hand side of the Customer Center, find and click on the name of the customer for whom you want to create a statement.

Step 3: Open the Create Statements Window

With the customer selected, you have a couple of options:

• Right-click on the customer's name and choose Create Statements from the context menu.
• Alternatively, go to the top menu bar, click on Customers, and then select Create Statements. While this opens the general statement window, QuickBooks will often pre-select the customer you were just viewing.

Step 4: Configure the Statement Details

You are now in the Create Statements window. This is where you will define the parameters for the document you want to generate. Let's break down each field:

• Statement Date: This is the date that will appear on the top of the statement. QuickBooks defaults this to the current date, which is usually correct.
• Statement Period: This is the most important date setting. Enter the start and end dates for the transaction period you want the statement to cover. For example, for a monthly statement, you might enter the first and last day of the previous month.
• Choose Statement Type: In this radio button section, you'll select either Balance Forward, Open Item, or Transaction, based on the definitions we covered in the previous section.
• Select Customer: Since you initiated this for a single customer, the radio button for One customer should be selected, with their name shown in the dropdown menu.
• Additional Options: At the bottom, you'll see several checkboxes that provide further control over what’s displayed:
  • Show invoice item details on statements: Check this if you want the statement to list every line item from the original invoices. Leave it unchecked for a simpler summary showing just the invoice number, date, and total.
  • Print due date on transactions: A very helpful option for reminding clients when their bills are due.
  • Do not create statements...: These options prevent QuickBooks from generating a statement if a customer has a zero balance, a positive balance, or if there are no transactions in the selected period. These are useful when generating statements in batches.

Step 5: Preview, Print, or Email

Before sending, always click the Preview button to see exactly what the customer will receive. Once you've confirmed it's correct, you can either click Print to create a hard copy or E-mail to send it directly from QuickBooks (your email must be configured in preferences).

Step-by-Step Guide: Creating Statements for Multiple Customers at Once

Sending statements one by one is inefficient. The true power of the "Create Statements" feature lies in its ability to generate them in bulk for all or a select group of clients.

Step 1: Open the Create Statements Tool

From the top menu, go to Customers > Create Statements.

Step 2: Set the General Parameters

Just like with a single statement, begin by setting the Statement Date, the Statement Period, and choosing the Statement Type (Balance Forward, Open Item, or Transaction). These settings will apply to the entire batch you are creating.

Step 3: Select Your Customer Group

In the middle of the window, you will find the Select Customers section. This is where you tell QuickBooks who should receive a statement:

• All Customers: This option will generate a statement for every single customer in your QuickBooks file. Be careful with this, but it can be useful if it’s part of a company-wide month-end process.
• Multiple Customers: When you select this, the Choose... button becomes active. Clicking it opens a list of all your customers, allowing you to manually check the boxes next to each customer you want to include in this batch.
• Customers of Type: If you use the "Customer Type" field to categorize your clients (e.g., 'Commercial,' 'Residential,' 'Wholesale'), you can select a type from the dropdown to generate statements only for that group.
• Preferred Send Method: A highly efficient option. You can generate statements only for customers who have their preferred delivery method set to "E-mail" or "Mail." This is great for creating batches designated for automated emailing or for printing and mailing.

Step 4: Generate the Batch

Once your criteria are set, click Preview to see how many statements will be generated. QuickBooks will then create all the selected statements at once. You will see a "Found XX statements to create" message. From here, you can click Print or E-mail to process the entire batch. Emailing them in bulk is a huge time-saver for your monthly collections process.

How to Customize Your Statements

A default QuickBooks statement is functional, but a customized statement with your company logo and colors reinforces your brand. You can edit the template to control both the look and the information presented.

Step 1: Access the Templates List

From the top menu, go to Lists > Templates.

Step 2: Find and Edit the Statement Template

In the Templates window, find the 'Statement' template you use (often 'Intuit Standard Statement'). You can either edit the standard one or duplicate it to create your own branded version. Select the template and click the Templates button at the bottom-left, then choose Edit Template.

Step 3: Use the Basic Customization Window

This screen allows for simple but effective changes:

• Add Your Logo: On the right side, check the 'Use Logo' box and select your company logo file.
• Change Colors & Fonts: The right-hand panel gives you options to select a color scheme and change the fonts for titles, labels, and data fields.

Step 4: Use the Layout Designer for Advanced Changes

For more detailed control, click the Layout Designer button. This opens a visual editor where you can:

• Drag and drop fields to reposition them.
• Add or remove data columns that appear on the statement.
• Add custom text boxes for permanent messages like payment terms, collections contact info, or a simple "Thank you for your business!".

Save your template when you're done. The next time you create statements, you can select your newly customized template from the dropdown menu in the Create Statements window.

Final Thoughts

Mastering customer statements in QuickBooks Desktop is a fundamental step in systematizing your accounts receivable process. By understanding what statement type to use, sending them consistently on a schedule, and customizing them to represent your brand, you improve client communication and make it easier to get paid on time.

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